Trump demands Alabama uphold IVF following court decision

Donald Trump has expressed his support for making IVF treatment accessible to those in need. He is joining other Republicans who want to distance themselves from an Alabama court decision on this issue.

The highest court in the state decided last week that frozen embryos have the same rights as children, and people can get in trouble for destroying them.

At least three clinics stopped doing IVF treatment after the decision.

On Friday, Mr. Trump asked Alabama to find a quick solution.

“We want to help parents have babies more easily, not make it difficult. This means we support making fertility treatments like IVF available in every State in America,” said the ex-president on his Truth Social platform.

“Most Republicans, Conservatives, Christians, and Pro-Life Americans, like myself, strongly support IVF for couples who want to have a baby. ”

On Friday, Alabama’s Republican Attorney General Steve Marshall said he does not plan to punish IVF providers and their families, which may help ease worries in the state.

This was the first time Mr Trump spoke about the issue. He said he opposes a decision that some Republicans worry could hurt their chances of winning votes from women in the suburbs and swing voters.

Mr Trump is the top candidate to win the Republican nomination for the November election and one of the most important people in the party.

The National Republican Senate Committee, which helps members get elected to Congress, told candidates to express support for IVF and work on making it more accessible. This shows that they want to move away from the Alabama ruling.

No Republican Senate candidates want to limit access to fertility treatments, according to Jason Thielman, the committee’s director, in a memo obtained by CBS, the BBC’s US partner.

The memo mentioned a survey done by Kellyanne Conway, who used to work for the president, to show that most people support access to IVF.

Several Senate candidates, like Kari Lake in Arizona, spoke out in favor of making the treatment available to the public after the memo was distributed.

Nikki Haley, the only other person trying to be the Republican nominee, at first seemed to support the decision when she said she thinks frozen embryos are babies. Later, she said she didn’t agree with the court’s decision.

While IVF is not banned in Alabama, some doctors have stopped offering fertility services because they are worried about getting in trouble with the law.

The highest court in the state made it and all the judges are from the Republican party.

Democrats are using the Alabama case in their campaign to show that if their opponents win in November, they will try to take away women’s rights.

Mr Biden wrote on X (formerly Twitter) that the Alabama decision was only able to happen because of the 2022 ruling by the US Supreme Court, which has three judges appointed by Trump, to cancel abortion rights.

Many conservatives were happy that Roe v Wade ended, but it made Democrats want to vote more and Republicans had trouble with their message.